Ender
Resident space-elf. More information pending. Personality Outside of combat, Ender is one of the friendliest people you could ever meet. Kind, compassionate, merciful (perhaps to a fault). He loves food, however; do not get between him and a fried chicken, or a broiled catfish, or any other number of delicious foodstuffs. In battle, Ender tends towards playfulness at first, almost catlike; however, when things get serious, he fights like a demon, ruthless and unforgiving except to the point of killing. Part of Ender's code is that he will never willingly take a life if it is capable of redemption, change, and becoming a benefit to society; he's a stringent believer in rehabilitation. If expediency is necessary, and he's just dealing with the common "evil henchman," he'll incapacitate them (multiple broken limbs) and move on. However, if he's battling a demon or other kind of soulless monster, he will fight without any mercy, and go for the kill with ruthless efficiency. Early on in his life, Ender had tremendous difficulty in dealing with his temper—he would go into intense rages at the slightest provocation, a quirk of a genetic disease he inherited from his father; unlike the case of the Incredible Hulk, these rages were of no real benefit: he did not gain increased strength or endurance; instead, he lost focus and awareness, and more often than not put both himself and his allies at risk of grievous harm. He still has troubles with his temper, but that has become a shadow of its former self now, with the disease expunged from his system. Powers and Abilities As the Dark Emperor, Ender has inherited certain supernatural abilities. *'SUPER STRENGTH' :: 'Ender is capable of superhuman feats of strength and endurance. He can punch hard enough to crater mountain ranges and with enough force to displace oceans. (Needless to say, he tends to hold back, as per his personal code of ethics.) *'SUPER SPEED :: 'Ender can move at superhuman speeds. On planetary surfaces, he is capable of moving at sub-light speed. Outside of orbit, however, in the vacuum of space, where he doesn't need to worry about the effects of beyond-light speed on planetary life... *'FLIGHT :: 'Yes. Ender can fly. Being a supernatural ability, he has total control of his movement in the air, and doesn't have to worry about wind resistance or thermal drafts. *'INVULNERABILITY :: In his true form, Ender is subject to damage from very few sources. When he has bound himself to the humanoid form as he has for much of his life, he is more vulnerable, but it still takes weapons a cut above the norm to inflict any real damage. Mundane weapons will have virtually no effect on his both supernaturally- and battle-hardened body. Magical weapons have a better chance at actually inflicting any kind of substantial damage. Weapons tied to light or infused with elemental starlight/sunlight, however, have the best chance at incapacitating him—lasers aren't bad, either. *'REGENERATION' :: Due to Ender's alien biology, the presence of a second specialized heart in his upper torso continously pumps out adaptable supercells that saturate every fiber of his being. Each supercell, on its own, contains the entire genetic profile of Ender's body. The moment a supercell detects damage, from anything as minor as a papercut to as major as total obliteration, it will begin its work. A single supercell is capable of exponential multiplication in order to rebuild Ender's entire body, starting with a "simplified" brain and heart structure, in order to produce the additional supercells to construct the rest of the body before completing the more intricate construction on the brain and heart and allowing consciousness and memory to return. However, even if all supercells are destroyed, Ender still has ... *'IMMORTALITY' :: As one of the elemental gods (of his universe), Ender is functionally immortal. Even if his mortal body were destroyed, all the supercells obliterated from existence, his power itself still lies in elemental Darkness, the superstructure upon which the rest of the universe is built, the supermassive black holes around which galaxies spiral. As long as Darkness exists—from gravity, to dark matter and dark energy, to the "dark shell" bounding the universe—Ender's essence will reincarnate in Felhaim, the "throneworld" of Dark that exists in a dimension below our own. *'SELF-SUSTENANCE' :: Ender no longer needs to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. Ender chooses to eat, simply because he became addicted to food as a mortal child, particularly to the many different meats of Auro. Instead of sleep, Ender can enter a meditative trance state, and relive memories with painstaking detail. *'ADAPTABLE TEMPORAL PERCEPTION' :: '''As part of his alien biology, Ender has a third eye, typically closed and concealed behind his hair. This eye isn't just an eye; it is more like a gate, and when it opens, it floods Ender with power and hyperawareness and advanced perception. One of its powers is the ability to slow down or speed up Ender's perception of time. When Ender first realized this power, as a boy, his control over it was shaky at best: he could '''stretch his perception of time so that one second felt more like six, which turned out to be a crucial ability in battle for an enslaved child-cum-gladiator dealing with opponents many times his size. At his current level of control, he can "contract" the third eye's perception so that 1 second stretches into 42 days and 6 hours, or he can dilate it so that while he experiences the passage of a single second, a hundred years of "real time" has actually passed. In addition, Ender has developed extraordinary powers. *'DARK ENERGY MASTERY' ::Ender has throughout his life trained his control over the element of Dark; as an adult, and upon his ascension to the role of Dark Emperor, he has gained total control and mastery of this misunderstood force. Unlike arcana, which uses arcane gestures, incantations, and sometimes the expenditure of exotic reagents, the essentier arts are based on a combination of willpower and integrated martial arts. As a Dark essentier, Ender can call upon the Dark for an array of different purposes and effects, including but not limited to: shadow doubles; teleportation ("shadowgating"); illusions; matter generation (shadow weapons and armor); barriers; gravity wells and miniature black holes; vaporizing water; extinguishing flame; decaying living material; draining life; and more. :: Dark energy is unique among the forces of the universe: Mathematically speaking, consider the primal elemental forces (fire, earth, water, growth, air, lightning, star) as positive numbers; the Void energy used by the primogenitus and that powers undead as negative numbers; Dark energy is, functionally, zero. When a positive number and a negative number meet, depending on the size of the number, the result is either positive or negative. That is to say, a strong Void force can overpower a weak elemental force and the end result can be a negative number—no more elemental energy, only Void energy; similarly, a strong elemental force can counteract a weak Void force and the end result will be a positive number—no more Void energy, only elemental energy; this all changes with the introduction of Dark energy. Dark energy is a neutralizing force, the end result of all energy as it decays over time. In Dark, all elemental force resides, decayed into a shadow of its former self; in Dark, Void energy is snuffed out utterly. When Dark energy is introduced in the equation, it's like multiplying the sum by zero. Dark is the great equalizer—this is why Dark is sometimes called the element of Death. *'LIVING FLOW MASTERY' ::The Living Flow is an unrefined energy that saturates the universe. From it, arcanists refine it into etherium and weave great works of magic through gestures and incantation; essentiers transform it into pure elemental forces, such as fire or water or lightning. However, there are individuals scattered throughout the universe that are able to work the Flow itself as an invisible living force. It can be used to: ignite Dark energy, revitalizing otherwise dead elemental forces contained within it; disintegrate matter; concussive explosions; amplify physical attacks, and more. *'MARTIAL ARTS' ::Ender's got some sweet moves, no lie. Ender has specialized gear and equipment, some of which he carries at all times. *'SOUL WEAPON' ::The art of forging soul weapons was first invented by the elemental gods of prehistoric times, when the stars were young and the primogenitus sought to consume the new universe's lifeblood. Borne out of necessity, the elemental gods tore a piece of their very essence out of themselves, and shaped these "soul shards" into living weapons deeply infused with their power. Billions of years later, this art was shared with the mortal races by the God-Emperor Codus Aurelius. Fast forward further, and Ender himself has learned to harness this technique, and now carries a weapon forged from his Dark heart. It most often takes the form of a katana, as he was taught swordplay by the katana-wielding Kazu Kokari, a master swordsman, and one of Ender's greatest opponents and strongest allies. As a soul weapon, Ender's sword can cut through virtually any material with ease, inflicts wounds that are infused with Dark energy (see above), expels Dark energy, is indestructible, and can change form and shape, among other abilities. *'ALIEN-TECH BODYSUIT' :: The Genetically Engineered Nanotech Exosuit (nicknamed "the Genesis suit") is an invention born of Praelectus ingenuity and innovation. The core of the Genesis suit is a genetically-engineered insectoid symbiont (or "GENsect"), which contains a tripartite cluster of nanite hives designed for myriad functions. The vast majority of Praelectus citizens are bonded with a GENsect by the age of 5, and wear the same one for the rest of their lives, getting regular upgrades and updates for their GENsect's AI core from the Praelectus central hub. Genesis suits are actually worn as common (and often the only) clothing of Praelectus citizens and military; they come in a variety of classes, with additional utility added for specialized roles among the Praelectus—for example, tenfold hardened armor and tactical battlefield analysis for military units, or augmented-reality overlays of blueprints for engineers, or optic camouflage and dimension phasing for covert units. The Genesis suit can come in various fashions and with many different accessories, either downloaded from different cosmetic and fashion house databases or personally designed by the host, with designs then executed and formed by the GENsect symbiont using nanite "tailoring" within minutes. ::In Ender's case, he is bonded with a special forces GENsect variant (named Excel), which includes hardened armor, tactical analysis, multiple vision modes to compensate for his natural limitations, and less-advertised features. TAKE NOTE, /ARENA/ ENTHUSIASTS: Ender does not fight '''anyone' at full strength''; in a sanctioned match, it would be tantamount to cheating, to his code of ethics. Nor should anyone want to fight Ender at full strength. Chances are, Ender will not be interested in sparring with anyone unless he's doing so with a severe handicap. History 'PRE-ASCENSION' Ender was conceived in darkness, in a moment of violence, blood, and rage. When he was finally born, Ender was hidden from his father by his mother and uncle on the planet of Auro, a world built on elemental balance: vibrant oceans, abundant jungles and forests, soaring mountains and yawning canyons, vast deserts, and a brilliant star—Auro has all elements in perfect, harmonious balance. He was placed with the rohara, a primitive, tribal lionfolk that preferred to hunt in the wilderness rather than live amongst the "civilized" people in the great human cities, like their catfolk cousins. Even as a child, Ender was strong, and was growing into the use of his third eye (what some rohara called the "Godseye"). Word of this strange, wild child with incredible strength spread, however, and he was eventually captured and brought to a distant Colosseum, where he was forced to battle as a gladiator under the sobriquet "Demon Child." 'The Colosseum' The battles were long, painful, and absolutely brutal—more often than not, Ender was broken in many ways, and only saved by the one rule of the tournament, the one rule that was to never be broken: "No killing." To kill meant disqualification; so, to beat Ender, he had to be beaten to the ground for at least 10 unbroken seconds. However, Ender's biology, his regeneration, never allowed him to stay down, never allowed his bones to stay broken for long unless he was starving (food was a necessary fuel for his supercells to function, or else they would go dormant). He would get knocked down 5, 10, 15 times, but he would always get back up again, wearing down his massive opponents through sheer attrition before he mustered up the strength to knock them out with one last blow. Every fight would be his hardest fight yet, and after every fight, he'd grow even stronger, as his supercells repaired the damage that was done, and then improved upon the original design: hardening skin, reinforcing bone, layering and compacting even more muscle on top of the old. And his control over his third eye was growing with every match, making him faster, more unpredictable, widening his battle awareness. None of his battles compared to the final match of the tournament, however, when he came face to face with Amaru Kokari, the Champion of the Colosseum for over a dozen years, undefeated in battle, unmatched in swordplay. Their battle was the most intense of all, with Amaru unleashing multiple-elemental attacks on a vastly unprepared Ender, Ender fighting back with a steadily increasing rage, inherited from his murderous, tyrannical father. Eventually, Ender accidentally tapped into the Dark, and unleashed the Black Beast. The Colosseum and its interplanetary gateways were destroyed, Ender's third eye was sealed, Amaru was slain, and thousands of others died—in fact, Ender was the sole survivor, and not because of any particular work on his part, but because the warding spells that were meant to contain him actually backfired, and protected him while eradicating everything else within a mile radius. 'Shadowgrave' For six months after, the blasted crater where the Colosseum once was became an urban legend: "Shadowgrave." A dome of pure black stretched over the bloodsoaked ruins, where the Demon Child and the Black Beast roamed, warding off anyone who would dare come near. Ender himself was unconscious for virtually the entire time—a primal side was in control, a hunter known as Endless, knowing only unending hunger and sorrow, forced to cannibalize the dead to survive. During this period, exorcisms were attempted to cleanse Shadowgrave of its "haunting," but failed with regularity. Arcanists threw magic at the dark dome, but nothing penetrated its shadowy hull. Though the Demon Child never let the Black Beast kill the would-be exorcists, it would leave grievous wounds and inflict fearsome injuries on those that sought to "cleanse" his domain. It seemed hopeless that anyone would ever be able to investigate the ruins, recover the pieces of the shattered portals, or re-establish contact with the other elemental throneworlds. Until... 'The Starmother' Three nations directly surrounded Shadowgrave. One was the theocratic nation of Adun, ruled by a single mighty priest-king; the priest-king's attempts at exorcism through lesser priests had failed, and eventually he gave up on such hopes. Instead, he elected to begin building a legion with a singular purpose: to take the dome by force, "purge" the Demon Child and the Black Beast, and then sanctify the area without interruption so that funeral rites for the thousandfold dead could begin. Another nation was the magocratic nation of Izor Volus, ruled by a council of powerful elder arcanists. It was one of these archmages who had stewardship of the Colosseum at the time when it was destroyed—that archmage was assumed killed, as no one had seen him since the fall of the Colosseum, and no one had had the opportunity to investigate the scene and verify the identities of the dead. They sought to contain and capture the Demon Child, and to slay the monstrous Black Beast—knowing, in secret, that the Demon Child wasn't the cause of the massacre, but not wanting to advertise the catastrophic failure of the warding spells they had designed—but the nature of the dark dome defied their attempts at magical intervention. It wasn't long before, unknowing of Adun's own plans, they too began building up a specialized force of arcanists to assault and take Shadowgrave by force. The third nation was the essentier-strong matriarchy of Septessar, ruled from the capital of New Auren by a sagacious Star essentier known as the Starmother. Compared to Izor Volus and Adun, New Auren was slow to respond to the perceived "threat" of Shadowgrave. For six months, the Elemental Council had been deliberating, convening meetings and deciding nothing; ultimately, the Starmother herself elected to act, and made way for Shadowgrave accompanied only by a loyal retinue of sentinels. Though she had been ritualistically blinded as part of her ascension to the role of Starmother, she could "see" that she was needed in order to restore balance to the area. While the Dark barrier normally rebuffed all attempts at attack, one of the key vulnerabilities of the Dark element is to Star, the most enduring and brightest-shining element in the universe, bringing light to the dark reaches. As a formidable essentier, the Starmother was able to pierce the dark veil, allowing herself and her companions entrance. Within the barrier, darkness shrouded everything—to the sentinels, this was troublesome, forcing them to cleave closely together. The Starmother, however, viewing the world through an inner eye, everything was crystal clear—so much death, corpses scattered for miles within Shadowgrave's perimeter. In the distance, the Black Beast stalked back and forth, its monstrously huge frame all but impossible to miss. However, there was something else that the Starmother was unable to miss; a pendant, shining to her inner eye, calling out to her. Unbeknownst to her, it was the pendant that Ender had been wearing when he was first left as a baby with the rohara, a powerful magical artifact that kept Ender's rage in check, suppressing the disease, magically changing boiling anger to bubbling excitement. She picked it up, and approached the Black Beast. The Black Beast deafeningly roared, warning her away, but the Demon Child struck faster, eyes wide with madness and terror, leaping at the woman. She merely opened her arms—as his body hit hers, the pendant burst with light, the Black Beast and the dark dome disappeared, and Ender fell unconscious in her arms. The Starmother secured the pendant around the sleeping, bone-thin child's neck and then, accompanied by her bewildered sentinels, headed back for New Auren. News spread quickly—Shadowgrave was no more, and the Black Beast and the Demon Child were nowhere to be found. Izor Volus began the arduous work of identifying the desiccated and aether-burned bodies, and Adun began funeral rites. The leadership of both, however, separately started investigations into the incident, to find out where the Beast went, if it was truly gone for good. 'Essentier Academy' SHORT VERSION: Ender is groomed for school like any other normal boy by the Starmother, with objections by the Elemental Council; Ender meets Lia, meets (rival) and other classmates (and gets picked on by them, but doesn't fight back now that he has his calming pendant his power has been greatly reduced anyway thanks to the seal on his third eye), begins Dark essentier training under a notorious and widely-feared Death elementalist called for by the Elemental Council, while his classmates begin their own training under more reputable elementalists and academy faculty. Ender learns about imperium (also known as godsmetal) and its uses in the world. Ender struggles with his teacher's crippling and exhausting training methods, but becomes stronger for it. Just in time for ... 'War' SEMI-SHORT VERSION: After a widely-publicised "school contest" where the essentiers show off their training in a series of mock battles with one another (Ender makes it to the final match and loses to rival, but they become friends as a result), Izor Volus and Adun both learn that the Demon Child lives as a mostly-normal boy in New Auren; Izor Volus elder council is intrigued by this development, while Adun is horrified at the prospects of another "Shadowgrave" happening in a civilian population. Izor Volus deliberates on what to do, while Adun sends a series of assassins in secret. All fail, mostly to the Death elementalist's interference, who doesn't bother reporting to his superiors; but eventually, Ender is caught out in the open by an assassin and his own classmates come to his aid, saving his life. With the Adun plot revealed, Adun stops hiding and the priest-king demands Septessar hand over the Demon Child for summary judgment (and execution). The Starmother refuses, even as some members of the Elemental Council advise surrendering him. War is declared by Adun, who accuse Septessar of both harboring a mass murderer and of preparing him as a weapon (which is partly true, as some members of the Elemental Council want to use him as a powerful deterrent against other nations that want Septessar's motherlode of imperium veins). Many battles are waged between Adun and Septessar. Separatist groups of upstart mages in Izor Volus join Adun's efforts, finding fault in the elder council's inaction on such a dangerous threat. With the combination of powerful arcana and numbers against them, Septessar (a smaller nation already, compared to Adun) begins finding themselves sorely pressed. The final battle is waged in New Auren itself, with the essentier army and mundane soldiers surrounded by Adun's crusaders, separatist sorcerers, and even surprised from the rear by Izor Volus arcanists. The battle appears lost, until the Izor Volus arcanists suddenly reveal themselves to be on Septessar's side (moralistic elements in the elder council finally managing a majority vote that forces them to acknowledge the Demon Child's innocence in the Shadowgrave incident) and turn the tide. Ender himself manages to sway popular opinion in Adun when he refuses to take a single crusader's life despite his reputation, even after being brought to the ragged edge of his life a hundred times over in comparison, with the other crusaders holding back the crusader executor when he tries to finish off the Demon Child while he's vulnerable. The Septessaran-Adunean War ends with Adun declaring peace and swearing to make reparations for the damage done to Septessar, the priest-king himself publicly admitting there must still be some remnant of humanity in the Demon Child. In gratitude for Izor Volus's timely aid, the Elemental Council commits essentier forces (including Ender, Lia, and Ender's rival) to Izor Volus's own brewing civil war, in order to quash the separatist elements that are still continuing their own personal rebellion to overthrow the elder council and eliminate the threat posed by the Demon Child and the Black Beast. 'The City of the Joyful Dead' SHORT VERSION, KIND OF: TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO—''There was a mountain-surrounded city under constant threat of invasion and conquest attempts. A king tired of dealing with would-be conquerors and invaders; spends several years carving a single massive wall from the surrounding mountains, with two truly gigantic gates at the north and south entrances that are always barred and locked. One day, visitor comes to the city and fast-talks the guards into letting him in. The moment he enters, the guards die, afflicted by some strange malady... and rise within seconds as undead. As the visitor makes his way to the palace, everyone that comes within fifty feet of him dies and rises again as undead; and then these undead grab more unwilling living, bringing them within that same range, causing even more to die, multiplying the dead. By the time the visitor, walking at his slow, hobbling pace, reaches the palace steps, half the city has already succumbed to his deathly aura. You can guess what happened afterward. Realizing that something had happened within the walled city, neighboring kingdoms sent investigators. When the investigators failed to return, it was assumed the city had been taken by hostile forces, and so one of the neighboring kingdoms sent heavy forces to retake the city and save the populace. The doors to the walled city opened, welcoming the puzzled army. After they'd all charged in, the gates closed once more. An hour later, the gates opened, and the army exited the city in formation. Reconnaissance that had been ordered to remain outside the city to observe was pleased to see hardly a man was missing from the ranks of the distant army, and rode ahead to the neighboring kingdom to report to the king the successful invasion. As he was telling his story, a squad of fully-armored men entered the throneroom, led by the general of the army. The recon soldier smiled, gestured to the man, "Here they are! You can ask them yourself!" The king rose to welcome back his general, only to find the general's sword plunged into his chest. The recon soldier's eyes widened in horror, and the guests in the throneroom screamed. Royal guards drew their swords, as did the general's squad, but they didn't move to attack. The general pulled his sword out, wiped the blade on his cloak, and sheathed it. He stared at the unnerved royal guards from behind the concealing cover of his full helm, and declared: "Justice is served; the debt of violence is paid." His voice was as cold and deep as a winter grave, not a voice they knew in life. The general pulled off his helm, revealing his graying flesh, his sunken green-lit eyes, and his dead, emotionless expression. The general was a walking corpse, something none of them had ever seen before, only heard about in ghost stories. "The City of the Joyful Dead welcomes all who have found Joy, but those who would seek to disturb our Joy will join us, willing or otherwise." They realized then that the general wasn't speaking with his own voice—it was that of the walled city's new "king." "Any who would harm the Joyful Dead will know my reckoning; those who come in peace will be treated with peace. In my city, there is only Joy. '''I have spoken.'" With that, the general and his squad silently departed, the royal guards simply too stunned to act until they were gone. The king gurgled, choked on his blood, and died on his throne. The rest of the army, all members of the Joyful Dead now, marched back to the walled city, where the gates swung open to welcome their return. Attempts have been made since then to reclaim the walled city, or at least to assassinate the leader, but all have been met with failure and almost universally resulted in the "conversion" of the would-be assassins into more Joyful Dead who then either killed their respective sovereigns or were destroyed in the attempt. It took less than a dozen attempts from various nations before they realized the City of the Joyful Dead was there to stay, and may well not be worth the effort to retake. After all, the Dead King had not made any attempts at invading other nations, apparently content to stay within his walls, with his "people." One nation was dealing with a problem—there was a developing cult within its boundaries that was using necromancy to raise the dead as mindless servants and soldiers, animated purely by malice and forbidden arcana; to the Dead King, the ruler thought, this would be considered an abuse of the dead, a perversion. Unable to deal with the problem alone, the king actually approached the walls of the City of the Joyful Dead with peaceful intent; the gates opened to him, and he made his way to the palace, trying not to show fear as a thousand thousand dead citizens stared at him with green-lit eyes before returning to their daily "lives." After dealing with the Dead King, a bargain was struck—in return for an "offering," the Dead King would send a squad of his own soldiers, uncorruptible, unkillable, to deal with the necromancy issue. To show his good intentions, the Dead King actually allowed the avengers to do their work first, accepting payment after the deal was done. With the success of the Dead King's avengers in rooting out and eliminating the cult, forcing them completely out of the kingdom, the City of the Joyful Dead's role became cemented for the next 200 years; in exchange for offerings of spontaneous undead and fresh corpses (typically the recently-dead poor, criminals, or unknown soldiers), they would perform three services: 1) Avengers would be sent to fight the growing threat of necromancy; 2) Recently dead would be "revived" as Joyful Dead, allowing loved ones to have a few more precious moments with those they lost, or stumped investigators to learn more about the circumstances of the death (many murderers found themselves being convicted on the testimony of their own victims); 3) The City of the Joyful Dead would act as a massive impenetrable necropolis, safely housing the corpses of the rich, royal, and noble from grave-robbers. Over 200 years, with a number of nations' upper echelon leaving their dead in the care of the City of the Joyful Dead, this has resulted in it (oddly enough) becoming a "tourist trap" of sorts, with many regular visitors coming to pay respects to the bodies of heroes or long-dead monarchs. NOW—''The essentier academy of New Auren sends Ender's class on a regular pilgrimage to the City of the Joyful Dead, to pay their respects to legendary essentiers and heroes of Septessar. All hell breaks loose. (More to come.) 'The Joyless One' ... 'Three Years on the Ocean Blue' ... 'A Tragic Reunion' ... 'The City of Towers' ... 'In the Den of Madness' ... 'FIERAAL: The World on Fire' ... 'ERDUN: A Mountain Unending' ... '???: The Secret Worth Killing For' ... 'NEURANA: Wrath of the Emerald Queen' ... '???: The Shattered World' ... '???: Where Storms Rule' ... 'ELYSION: The Star-Crown' ... 'Emperion' ... 'Father' ... 'Heart of Creation' ... 'Redemption' ... 'Ender's End' ... 'Wrath of the Masked Lord' ... 'FELHAIM' ... 'THE VOID' ... 'POST-ASCENSION' ... 'The Praelectus' ... 'DRAWCHAN' 'Ender vs Robo-EHG' Ender purposely placed a seal over his body, locking away the vast majority of his divine power, his elemental abilities, and even much of his superhuman biology (suppressed regeneration and greatly reduced strength and speed), and even left behind '''Excel', his GENsect, and his soul weapon. Ender walked to a wasteland some distance away from the /arena/ proper and openly challenged EHG to a fight. While waiting for the Epic Hair Emperor to show, a representative from the Council appeared and offered Ender an opportunity: A sparring match between Ender and an experimental robo-EHG. Loving a good challenge, Ender accepted. It was a titanic battle, even under the circumstances; blows were exchanged, mountains shook and the earth was cleft in twain. The fight came to a draw, however, when robo-EHG began expressing very human emotions and the Council pulled him out of the fight. 'The Clash' In a bid to conquer Drawchan, a massively overpowered EHG threw down the iconic /arena/ and erected a great mountainous barrier around the region, intending to trap his prey, the inhabitants of Drawchan. Powered by the Drawchan equivalent of the Infinity Gauntlet, EHG was stronger than ever before. However, his mistake was in trapping not just the inhabitants of Drawchan, but the most powerful fighters of /arena/, who were more than willing to fight back. To combat multiple opponents, he summoned an army of dead to act as a distraction. Ender doesn't like undead, but even for undead, zombies are high on the list of undead he really dislikes. He joined the battle, intent on eradicating the undead horde and anyone who would dare abuse the Void's power for their own purposes. Defeated by the combined onslaught of a squad of united champions, EHG lost a great deal of power that fateful night, extracted first by Ender, then stolen from Ender by the mysterious Spensy, who nearly absorbed Ender's own power before he shadowgated to safety, leaving her harmlessly clutching at a shadow. 'Summer Slam 3 Fighting Tournament' A new twist on the old formula, the Summer Slam 3 Fighting Tournament had the competitors fighting in teams, rather than one-on-one. Ender paired up with Formaldehyde, and together they won the tournament... unfortunately, it was mostly due to no-shows or inaction on the part of their opponents, not really giving the duo a chance to shine except during one particular match versus Munitions and Cyril, set against the backdrop of an airship battle. That was the only match they were given a chance to fight to its conclusion, ending in the catastrophic destruction of multiple airships and the near-death of Ender, Cyril and Munitions. Rather than accept the trophy, however, Ender refused, feeling it hadn't been earned and that much of the tournament felt like a farce. Technically, Banquette won the tournament, as she accepted the trophy when there were no takers. After the tournament, Ender disappeared, and was rarely seen except in the stands of /arena/. Relationships *'RELATIVES' ::His mother is Ora (Oriel), empress of Elysion, wife to Azer (Azrion), emperor of Elysion and former knight-captain in Elysion's armies. His father is Laster (Lastrion), a former sergeant in Elysion's armies, brother to Azer. His half-brother is Saber (Sabrian), current lord-guardian in Elysion's armies. His half-sister is Aura (Auriela), oracle and princess of Elysion. *'FRIENDS' ::His wife and closest friend is Ashlia d'Arcagne-Azurai (Lia), an incredible fighter, and the current Star Incarnate after Amorien's death at Ender's hand. Arma is a trusted confidante, even though the two couldn't be more different. *'ALLIES' ::He works with the Galactic Commonwealth as a liaison between Elysion and the Praelectus; he has been given the honorary role of Magister Militae (or Military Supreme Commander) in times of war; however, peace reigns throughout the Commonwealth and has done so for centuries, and so he rarely needs to exercise that authority, and freely roams the universe aboard the Angelus Bellum with his wife. He has developed extensive alliances with kingdoms and nations on the elemental throneworlds, as part of his travels during his unwitting involvement in the Rite of Ascension. *'RIVALS' ::EHG, Munitions *'UNKNOWN' ::Spensy References Ender.png|Do not upset Ender. Pictured here: Upset Ender. Ball_beenawhile.png|Ender's costume for the Masquerade Ball. Concept_gensect_bonding.png|GENsect bonding procedure. Concept_gensect_types.png|GENsects! Category:Magical Category:Technological Category:Supernatural Category:Biological